GREENE: Shaw Brothers grew to be Asia's largest production studio by the late '50s and one of the most influential film companies in the world. They produced almost a thousand low-budget, action, kick-flicks, including "The Magnificent Concubine" and "The One-Armed Swordsman" and also this film, "Five Fingers of Death."

(SOUNDBITE OF A MOVIE TRAILER)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: See mighty warriors attack each other with the most deadly weapons ever developed: Their bare hands.

GREENE: Sir Run Run Shaw, knighted in 1977, went on to run one of the world's dominant Chinese language television networks, launching careers of many Chinese film mega-stars. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.